Follow:

Style

Travel

Home and DIY

All Posts By:

helenveyna@gmail.com

    Travel

    Portland Travel Diary

    April 25, 2015
    Photos of me taken by Candace Kita and Kelsey Yocum
    Last week/weekend I had the opportunity to visit Portland for a couple of days. I mostly spent my time there learning more about my graduate program, but I did have some free time in the evenings and on the weekend to explore the city with my friends Kelsey and Candace.  My main goal during this trip was to get a better sense of the layout of the city so that I could begin exploring housing options. Kelsey and Candace were kind enough to give me a tour of the city and introduce me to new places (to me) in Portland, and I am now super excited about moving up there later this year! I thought I would use this post as an opportunity to share some photos from my trip and talk about a few of the places I visited.
     
    FOOD AND COFFEE
     
    Just as always, I did my fair share of eating during this trip to Portland. While I didn’t go crazy and drink all the coffee I possibly could like I have in the past, I did get to visit some cool new places that I really enjoyed. Here is a list of some restaurants and coffee shops I visited during this trip:
    Prettyman’s General: Brunch is probably my favorite meal, so I was really counting on my friends to to deliver an awesome brunch experience. They did just that when they took me to Prettyman’s General, which has a variety of mouth-watering options all served on Tabor Bread toast. I had the Ace in the Hole from their menu, and it was very satisfying and delicious!
    The Sudra: My friends and I went to dinner at the Sudra, which  seems to be quite popular and was packed for dinner. I had the Poori Plate which was really good. This place was also had an amazing playlist (they played Geographer!), and I liked that they projected Bollywood movies on one of the walls.
    Blue Star Donuts: When I posted that I was planning a trip to Portland, Tina from Just A Tina Bit recommended in the comments that I try Blue Star; since I love dessert, especially donuts, it obviously didn’t take much to convince me that I had to visit this local donut shop while I was in town. I had a carrot cake donut and it was the best donut that I’ve ever had. I have to say that I’m really looking forward to frequenting this place once I’m settled in Portland. It’s my goal to try out all of their donut options. Haha!
    Courier Coffee: This small and cozy coffee shop was my first stop during this trip to Portland. Kelsey and I got there bright and early so we didn’t have to wait too long for our drinks. However, Kelsey informed me that this tends to be a popular spot and is packed with people later in the day.
    Either/Or: This place has coffee soda and it’s as good as it sounds! I actually didn’t have the coffee soda, but my friend let me try hers and I immediately regretted purchasing an iced latte (even as delicious as it was). This shop is located around some cute antique shops, so it’s a good place to grab a snack or something to drink if you’re spending a day antiquing. Also, I just have to mention that the baristas working here are extremely friendly.
    Palio Dessert and Espresso House: This coffee shop was discretely hidden inside a very cute house on a very large roundabout. My friends and I made our way over here for a late night cup of coffee after dinner on Friday night. If you can believe it, I was asleep by 11:00 PM despite enjoying a delicious latte around 9:30 PM; if that’s not a sign that I’m a true coffee addict lover, I don’t know what is! This place looks like it would make a great study spot, so you’ll probably see me camping out here next fall.
    While Kelsey, Candace and I were exploring the Sellwood Neighborhood of Portland, we happened to walk into a cute home goods shop that had chickens and goats in the back. I wish I could say more about this magical moment, but I think the pictures pretty much some up how awesome it was to make new animal friends.
    THE OUTDOORS
     
    One of the things that I’m most excited about taking advantage of when I move to Portland is all the wonderful outdoor spaces around the city. As much as I love living in the LA area, our parks do not compare to those in Portland. During this trip I visited Laurelhurst Park (also seen here), which was a great place to spend the afternoon lounging. During one of the days I was in town, my friend Kelsey and I also made our way to Council Crest Park for a picnic dinner; it was such a gorgeous place, especially during this time of the year when all the magnolia trees surrounding the park are blooming.

     

     

    Since I had to leave early Sunday morning and didn’t have time to do much more exploring, Kelsey and I decided to take a walk around her neighborhood. I actually love exploring places on foot because it gives me time to appreciate my surroundings, unlike when I’m driving around, and I’m glad that Portland has a great public transit system so that I can have the opportunity to do more of that when I move there next fall. I hope you enjoyed these photos from my trip. Until next time!
    xoxo,
    Helen

     

    Follow me on…
    Outfit

    Black Maxi Dress

    April 13, 2015
     
    Photos by Sarah Veyna
    Outfit Details:
    Old Navy High-Neck Maxi Dress
    Nine West Tertia Sandals
    Turtle Pendant Necklace (Gift from my dad)
    Hoops (Gift from my sister)
    M.A.C. Pigment in Blue-Brown (Eyes)
    M.A.C. Lipstick in Twig (Lips)

     

    Since I’m going to be attending grad school in the fall and will be on a tight budget, I am making a very serious effort to be more mindful about my purchases. I recently bought this black jersey maxi dress because it is a piece that I can combine with many things I already own. I also love that it is a dress that I can wear all year long; I know that I will be wearing this dress often during spring and summer, and I can also see myself wearing it with boots and a belted sweater in the fall and winter. However, what I love most about this dress is that it looks elegant but is extremely comfortable at the same time. I’m a firm believer that you should never have to sacrifice comfort over style.
    I hope you all had a lovely weekend. I only really had Sunday off since I worked Saturday evening, but I was able to make the most of the free time that I did have. It was also my mom’s birthday this weekend, so I made time to celebrate it with her and shower her with tons of love and gifts; it’s the least I could do for the most caring and loving woman in my life. Now, I just need to get through the next three days of work and then I’m off to Portland on Wednesday. I’m so excited to further explore my future home!
    xoxo,
    Helen
    Outfit

    Pastel Polka Dots

    April 6, 2015
    Photos by Sarah Veyna
    Outfit Details:
    Maison Jules Dress (Similar here and here)
    Madewell Bag
    Franco Sarto Pumps (Similar)
    Urban Decay Naked Palette (Eyes)
    I wore this navy and pastel pink polka dot dress on Easter Sunday. I thought it was the most appropriate thing to wear on that day since the pattern and colors tend to remind me of a decorated Easter egg. Instead of accessorizing, I decided to put a bit more effort into my makeup and played up my eyes. I followed Keiko Lynn’s Urban Decay Naked Palette Tutorial to achieve this look since I’m still a newbie to using eyeshadow. I have to say that Keiko makes it seem so easy to put on makeup and use the Naked Palette, but I think I did pretty well for my first try. Wouldn’t you agree?
    In other news, I’m going to be flying out to Portland next week. This trip is very last minute–I just booked my flight a couple of days ago–which makes it even more exciting. This trip isn’t exactly a vacation since I’m making the trip up to Portland so that I can check out a grad school, but I’m looking forward to seeing some familiar faces and drinking copious amounts of coffee while I’m there. If you’ve been keeping up with this blog, you might remember that I applied to grad programs earlier this year. Well, as it turns out, it looks like I might be moving to Portland this fall. This big change in my life is what has been causing me so much anxiety lately, even though I’ve been working towards this goal for almost an entire year. I’m hoping that visiting the city for a couple of days will allow me to feel more at ease about everything that’s coming my way.
    xoxo,
    Helen
    Follow me on…
    !function(doc,s,id){ var e, p; if(!doc.getElementById(id)) { e = doc.createElement(s); e.id = id; p = ‘//shopsensewidget.shopstyle.com/widget-script.js’; var cb = new Date().getTime(); p += ‘?cb=’ + cb; e.src = p; doc.body.appendChild(e); } if(typeof window.ss_shopsense === ‘object’){ if(doc.readyState === ‘complete’){ window.ss_shopsense.init(); } } }(document, ‘script’, ‘shopsensewidget-script’);